[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 66 (Wednesday, May 18, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1005]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN MEMORY OF PETER RODINO, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 18, 2005

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life of Congressman 
Peter Rodino, Jr., a great American and distinguished member of this 
body. Congressman Rodino passed away recently, and the life he led is 
without question worthy of our praise.
  In Congress, Peter represented the Newark area of New Jersey for over 
40 years. In such time he would be associated with some of the most 
important events in American History. As Chairman of the House 
Judiciary Committee he presided over the Watergate Hearings that 
ultimately resulted in the resignation of a sitting President.
  However, his stewardship during that trying process was executed with 
a humbleness and reverence that earned him the respect of a grateful 
Nation. In so doing, he demonstrated to his fellow Congressional 
colleagues the requirements of true leadership.
  Peter Rodino, Jr. was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1909, to a 
hardworking immigrant family. He received a bachelor's degree from the 
University of Newark and a law degree from Rutgers University before 
starting a law practice in the late 1930's.
  He would later serve his country during World War II, where he earned 
the Bronze Star and would have the distinction of being one of the 
first enlisted men to receive a battlefield commission as an officer.
  In 1949 he was elected to the U.S. Congress where he built his 
reputation through his work on veterans affairs and civil rights 
issues. In the 1980s, he fought against what he viewed as efforts by 
the Reagan administration to limit the reach of civil rights laws, as 
well as efforts to end school busing.
  He supported landmark civil rights legislation in 1957 and was one of 
the primary sponsors of the Civil Rights Act of 1966. In the mid-1960s, 
he helped lead an effort to end immigration quotas and enact fair-
housing standards. He also wrote the 1982 extension to the Voting 
Rights Act, and was House leader in making Martin Luther King Jr.'s 
birthday a national holiday.

  Despite all this he was best known for his leadership on the 
Judiciary Committee during the Congressional hearings on Watergate. In 
a period that was so politically charged, Peter was seen as fair, 
objective, and dedicated to upholding the integrity of the Congress.
  At the outset of the hearings he set the tone by stating ``Whatever 
the result, whatever we learn or conclude, let us now proceed with such 
care and decency and thoroughness and honor that the vast majority of 
American people, and their children after them, will say: That was the 
right course. There was no other way.''
  He never wavered from the spirit of those words, as the hearings 
played out over the coming months. In the end, though the country would 
see their President resign, they had confidence that the system had 
done its job, and that our government would endure.
  This was due in large part to Peter's leadership. At that time, I was 
a young man just beginning my tenure in Congress, but having had the 
opportunity to observe Peter taught me lessons of leadership that I 
have never forgotten.
  William Penn once said, ``Sense shines with a double luster when it 
is set in humility. An able and yet humble man is a jewel worth a 
kingdom.'' If this is the measure of a man, than Congressmen Peter 
Rodino is a jewel our nation will never replace. His spirit and the 
lessons his life provide will continue to guide us.

                          ____________________